Sunday, October 20, 2013

Things I've Learned As A New Blogger

There's nothing more relaxing than waking up on a Sunday morning, and after a hectic week, to a house that smells like a bakery and knowing there's a new blog post to be written in the midst of my younger siblings playing with friends and my mother working up a whirlwind in the kitchen.

And what better way to start off my second week of everyday posting than to reflect on my first [and successful!] week of everyday posting?

I feel like such a noob still, but I've learned so much over the past 7 days, both about blogging and myself. How cheesy, but so true. There's sucha contrast between vlogging and blogging and I've gained so much insight to another part of the Internet that I just have to share with you.

Here's what I've learned:

1) Blogging is hard work. Let's be real: I thought I would just be able to sit down for an hour every day and write up a quick post to publish. But I've come to the realization that blogging is a serious task. A fun one, but it takes a lot out of a person. My posts alone take me an hour because I change them 87,000 times. Then there's

2) How to balance my schedule. I have a part time job, all honors classes, a YouTube channel, a social life, marching band, a bird (AKA my child), and chores all to balance. Then I decided to add a blog to my crazy schedule?! Yes, yes I did. And it's been a crazy task. But I've gotten everything done, and I am now counting on Sundays to be my chill days.

3) Pinterest is the bible for bloggers. I've spent more time on Pinterest in the past few days than I have collectively in the past year. I've gotten inspiration, tips, found new blogs to read, and a nice break-while-working. Follow me here!

4) Taking pictures is going to be vital. I've used a lot of images that aren't my own this week just so I could focus on writing and getting my foot in the door. (Make sure if you do this that you give credit to the original source!) At any rate, this is my "diary" [hence my URL] and pictures are going to be important in this documentation of my life.

5) HTML is the key to success. Basically. I knew basic HTML coding before hand but I'm starting to get a real grasp of it and it's making my new theme [wink, wink] a lot nicer and more user friendly! This site has been a huge help.

And things that probably won't pertain to any of you, but things I've personally come across:

*I hate having themes. Kiss them goodbye. They were a nice guide for a few days but now I've come to the realization that there's so much to write about.

*I hate my layout//theme. I'm working on a new one but I'm not uploading it until I'm completely happy. Expect it this week!

And that's pretty much that! Obviously I'm not a huge success [yet] but I can't wait to keep working towards my goal. What is one of your biggest tips to new bloggers? Even if you are new, leave me a nice comment!